December 18, 2017

Training Days: The Subway Artists Then and Now.

When street and graffiti art burst onto the scene in the 1970s and 80s, they were initially met with disdain and distrust; over time, though, these pioneers became essential voices for artistic innovation. This evolution is the theme for the book Training Days: The Subway Artists Then and Now.

The concept of the book was the idea of photographer Henry Chalfant, who spent years observing and befriending the graffiti artists of 1970s New York. He traced their careers and chronicled their designs, using this research for the pivotal 1983 documentary film, Style Wars. As an update to that film, this book publishes follow-up interviews with these artists conducted by Chalfant's colleague, Sacha Jenkins. These first-person stories, alongside the more than 130 color illustrations, bring street art to life in Training Days.